[spectre] KillerTV presents Hive: small mobile open source networks

[Floor v Spaendonck]

Killer-application is people-TV presents Hive: small mobile open  
source networks
live stream; http://connect.waag.org

When: Wednesday 17 January start 8.00 PM
Where: Theatrum Anatomicum, Waag building, Nieuwmarkt 4, Amsterdam

Hive (not Hyves) is a network that feels, sees, listens and  
exchanges. The underlying software HIVEWARES is an open source  
operating system designed to function on commercial networks like  
WiFi. Every Hive enabled device is a node in the network. ,
Internet- and computer-veteran Vladimir Grafov was involved in the  
development and tells about its history, the possibilities and the  
future of Hive. Grafov will be joined by Alexei Blinov and introduced  
by Rob van Kranenburg.

===============================
Hive Networks: Models of networking in post-Google age.
by Vladimir Grafov and Alexei Blinov

Hive Networks are different; they watch, listen, sense and touch the  
world around them.
They actively source, distribute and create content, they...... turn  
the world on.

Having said that, we realize that challenge of building the parallel  
models of networking is not an easy one. Started as an art project  
and founded by Art Council of England, Hive Networks is an artistic  
adventure into ubiquitous computing, creative exposure of  
technologies which otherwise stay hidden and incomprehensible to the  
public.
It is not difficult to imagine a future where billions of people  
regularly access applications running inside the global network as  
part of their daily lives, when technology recedes into the  
background of our lives and seamlessly integrates with it, becoming  
so embedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even  
thinking about it. But it is not about technology. It’s about the  
mismatch between the current hierarchical models in which global  
networks are organized and the emerging publishing culture that  
became possible because of the technology. It‘s about empowerment,  
gaining control over the identity and locality of the content.  
Centralized, corporately structured content aggregators and  
information brokers inevitably capitalized on the content they  
collect, accumulate and filter. Network owners and connectivity  
providers consider volume charges to make sure they keep growing.  
Copyright owners push towards tightly controlled distribution of the  
content.
We believe that the mismatch could be resolved by developing  
parallel, democratic tools of publishing that rely on shared network  
ownership. We base our work on three cornerstones: Open source  
software, Open Spectrum (WiFi) and Open hardware. These three  
elements come together in what we generically call “Hive enabled  
device”.
Each HIVE enabled device is capable of gathering content and  
disseminating it either to its immediate physical location or across  
a local or global network.
HIVEWARES is the software behind each HIVE device. It is an open  
source operating system designed to work on commercially available  
network hardware such as wireless access points or wireless LAN hard  
drive units. These units are attractive to use due to their  
relatively low cost, low power requirements, and in-built network  
connectivity.
Once installed with HIVEWARES each device not only acts as a node in  
the network but also collects, stores and forwards data and multi- 
media content. The HIVE device no longer only provides a connectivity  
structure, through which access to the global Internet is  
facilitated, but a content structure, a hiving network of desires and  
cultural/artistic creations.

During the evening, we will address some of the issues we encountered  
in the course of the project and give a short demonstration of the  
current state of development.



When: 17th of January  2007, venue opens at  7.45 PM start 8.00 PM
Stream: http://connect.waag.org
Where: Theatrum Anatomicum, waag building, Nieuwmarkt 4, 1012CR,  
Amsterdam

KillerTV is supported by:
Mondriaan Stichting, VSB Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Surfnet,  
Pauwhoffonds


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